Tomorrow is the day for filing nomination papers for the February 8 municipal elections. No national party, let alone the Maoists, is taking part as they have announced an ‘active boycott’ to foil the government’s efforts to hold the polls. The rebels have threatened physical or ‘people’s action’ against candidates and polling officers. They have already shot down a mayoral hopeful in Janakpur from the Badri Mandal-led Nepal Sadbhavana Party. A key way in which this election differs from the earlier ones is that even on the eve of the nomination day the people do not know the candidates’ names, whereas in the past the electoral campaign would already have gone into high gear by now.

Besides, the tiny parties are still struggling to find people willing to become candidates, and even family members of many candidates are unlikely to cast vote.

Then, what purpose will this election serve, except to satisfy the government’s ego? The government is still giving the impression that it is determined to hold the election ‘as there is no compelling situation for postponing it’, as home minister Kamal Thapa told a press conference on Monday, adding, however, that the ‘government is ready to go ahead with reconciliation if the political parties come forward with a clear agenda.’ He also said it has received ‘no formal demand or proposal for poll postponement from anybody’. Ministers’ statements reiterate, not surprisingly, the government position as laid down by the King himself which boils down to this: The parties would have to accept the royal road map for any reconciliation. One day earlier, minister Narayan Singh Pun had hinted at poll postponement if the parties agreed to sit for talks.

But the political parties have flatly rejected the idea of dialogue with the government whether it calls off the polls or not. They are demanding the restoration of democracy first. Indeed, talks in themselves are not a virtue. What is more important is a willingness to make a far-reaching agreement. This time around, the parties, bitten more than once, may not risk damaging their image by dropping their movement without credible guarantees from the government on democracy. For the government, the poll is increasingly becoming a liability in that, apart from the questions of the poll’s legitimacy and recognition, the government would also have to cope with the even more difficult task of protecting the office-bearers even after the polls. Despite minister Thapa’s claim in this regard, this problem alone may turn the whole electoral exercise into a fiasco.